France and India partners in the development of the hydrogen sector

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France and the Indian National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) are preparing to move further into the renewable energy sector. The new agreement, signed on August 22, concerns the energy sector, specifically hydrogen and fuel cells. CEA-Liten and the Indian NISE are pursuing targets set in March.In this agreement, we find production ofhydrogen by electrolysis, the improvement of its storage as well as its application in transport.

Two countries, two actors

The agreement brings together two major players in the sector. The first is the Office of the Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies (CEA). It's a public body specialized in the technology industry, intervening particularly in the fields of nuclear, in the defense and in the so-called fundamental research (the sciences of matter, in particular). The CEA has nine centers, but it is one of them in particular, the Liten, who is engaged in the sector hydrogen. Based in Grenoble and Chambéry, the Liten, for " Innovation Lab for New Energy Technologies and Nanomaterials "Is like" the first European institute fully dedicated to the energy transition ".

On the other side of the planet, there is the NISE, the " National Institute of Solar Energy ". It is also an agency dependent on the government, attached to the Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). Its goal is to test renewable energy production methods likely to be subsequently deployed in India.

The content of the agreement

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the interview in Biarritz between the French President Emmanuel Macron and the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. According to the press release, the text " wants to extend the field of cooperation between NISE and CEA-Liten »: It is a question of ensuring a maximum of steps in the hydrogen sector, from production to transportation applications to storage.

This extension of cooperation is a necessary step to satisfy the roadmap issued in March 2019, which concretely specified the objectives to be achieved. This roadmap provides for a decarbonisation 10% industrial hydrogen production by 2023. It also stipulates a development of zero emission solutions for transport of all horizons (road, rail, river …) and the preparation of a second generation of hydrogen production by electrolysis to industries.

Finally, this roadmap includes the development of demonstrator projects aimed at decarbonize energy networks in non-interconnected areas (ZNI, the areas that are not connected to the continental network – the power grid of Guyana or Mayotte, for example).

The text also echoes a memorandum issued in March 2018 on photovoltaic technologies. This other renewable energy sector should also be worked by both organizations.

Source: CEA